From time to time I have written about the jargon (both official terms and slang words) that live in some professions and trades.
When it comes to political jargon, one of the problems is that jargon can change quite quickly, and keeping up with it can almost become a full-time occupation.
But let’s do a quick ‘freeze-frame’ (if you like) and look at some of the political jargon that is around at the moment. Some of this has been around for quite a while and some of it is still newish.
Here’s the list:
Optics—how things look (which is not necessarily how things really are). Governments try to make the ‘optics’ better than the reality (‘no, the economy is doing fine—ignore the inflation rate and lack of real wage rises.’)
Mood music—the feelings that dominate the electorate. Much the same as being able to ‘read the room’ (to know what voters are feeling and thinking). The ‘mood music’ says that after Bondi voters won’t wear ISIS families being brought back to Australia—that sort of thing.
Stakeholder engagement—getting all the people who might be affected by this on side. With things such as wind and solar projects, that means not only the green-minded voters but also the billionaires who have invested in wind and solar and think they deserve to make a lot of money.
Hard yards—the difficult bit (there are always ‘difficult bits’, it’s in the nature of politics).
Fiscal headroom— ‘fiscal’ really means anything to do with finance, so ‘fiscal headroom’ means there is enough money (in the accounts or stuffed in a ‘hollow log’) to allow a government to spend on the things it wants to.
Political capital—the residue of voter popularity that any government still has. This (like any capital amount) can dwindle over time. As a general rule, the longer a particular government has been in power the less political capital it has.
Dead cat strategy—this means aiming for a ‘dead cat bounce’ and that in turn means aiming to have a small, brief recovery (perhaps just enough to call an election and be voted back in before the illusion of the recovery is exposed). Based on the old saying that, if dropped from a height, even a dead cat will bounce once.
Bubble story—something that is only believed inside the ‘Canberra bubble’—the hot house world in which politicians, their advisors, and the parliamentary press gallery dwell.
Cut through—meaning a politician says or does something the voters actually notice.
Kick it into the long grass—put something off for a long time, in the hope that voters will forget about it.
Reverse ferret—changing policy while refusing to admit that any change has happened. (‘There should never be a Royal Commission into Bondi—it would take too long and hurt too many people.’ ‘I now announce I am calling a Royal Commission into Bondi—which I have thinking about for a long time.’) The expression comes from a phrase used by British political journalists when they succeed in making politicians uncomfortable— ‘putting a ferret up their trousers.’ If the politicians get rid of the annoyance, the ‘ferret’, it is a ‘reverse ferret.’
There are, of course, many more bits of political jargon. But that’s quite enough for the moment. So now the rest of us can get back to our normal lives (and our normal language!)
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